


hold on to me (i'm a little unsteady)

by 28finelines



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Headaches & Migraines, Hurt/Comfort, Louis Tomlinson Calls Harry Styles Pet Names, Sick Harry Styles, Sickfic, Trans Character, Trans Harry Styles, and by sick i mean, suffering from
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:41:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26162065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/28finelines/pseuds/28finelines
Summary: harry has a migraine; louis takes care of her(ft. trans harry; nourry friendship; & pet names galore)
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Kudos: 99





	hold on to me (i'm a little unsteady)

The apartment is dark when Louis finally manages to push the front door open. The porch light hadn’t even been turned on, so Louis had to fumble with his phone to light up the lock before succeeding in getting his key in. 

He drops said keys in the bowl on the table next to the door, trying to be quiet. He has an assumption; there’s usually a reason for a dark and quiet apartment when Harry is home. 

Sure enough, when Louis makes his way to the bedroom - stumbling through the dark guided by the flashlight from his phone - Harry is tuckered out in bed. It’s so dark, it takes Louis a few moments to adjust and realize there’s someone else in bed with Harry. Louis uselessly panics for a heartbeat before common sense kicks in; it’s just Niall. 

The moonlight coming in from the window allows him to see Harry curled up in the center of the bed, her head pillowed on Niall’s chest. One of Niall’s hands is in Harry’s hair, but they’re both dead to the world. Louis doesn’t want to disturb them - definitely doesn’t want to disturb Harry - but he also wants to be the one Harry is curled up with. 

It doesn’t matter either way, it turns out. Niall blinks his eyes open, causing both of them to startle as Louis had, at that moment, been bent over his and Harry’s bodies. His intent had been to drop a kiss on Harry’s forehead, not to give Niall a heart attack. 

They both freeze, watching to see if Harry’s going to wake up. She just grumbles unhappily under her breath and rolls over, effectively freeing Niall. 

Louis tugs him out into the hallway. 

“For fucks sake, Lou.” Niall has a hand to his chest, still breathing heavily. 

“Sorry, sorry, sorry. How bad is she?” 

Niall sighs. “Left in the middle of class.” 

Louis frowns at that, pulling out his phone to see if there’s a text or call he’s missed. 

“Mate, it came on so suddenly. Even the light from her phone was too much for her.” 

“Oh. You could’ve called me.” He tries not to sound put out, but well. 

“She was pretty insistent I didn’t.” 

Figures. “How bad s’it?” 

Niall makes a face, nose crinkling up. Louis waits patiently, one ear listening for movement in the bedroom while he catalogs the changes in Niall’s expression. Harry’s pretty stubborn when it comes to talking about pain. Harry even admitting she’s in pain is a pretty big indicator; actually leaving class mean it’s serious. Louis just doesn’t know how serious. 

“Pretty bad,” Niall settles on. “A seven or an eight, I’d guess. Didn’t take her sunglasses off till she was under the covers. Might’ve been crying a bit. But not as bad as I’ve seen it.” 

“Couldn’t eat anything,” he guesses. 

“No. Nearly threw up when I suggested it. She only fell asleep a little while ago.” 

Louis nods and some of the tension eases in his shoulders. He knows he won’t relax completely until Harry is feeling better. Though, he supposes, that’s not quite fair since living with chronic migraines means Harry is rarely, if ever, feeling one hundred percent. 

He pulls Niall into a hug, leaning into the other boy momentarily. A little bit of weakness he wouldn’t let many others see. “Thank you for taking care of my girl.” 

“Course, Lou.” Niall rubs his back with one hand. “She’s my best friend.” 

Niall leaves shortly after that, and Louis makes a mental note to take him out for a pint in thanks soon. He returns to the bedroom to find, in the short time he’d taken to walk Niall to the door, his girlfriend has woken up. 

Harry blinks up at him a couple times before her eyes seem to focus. She stretches out a hand across the sheets, and Louis climbs in beside her without hesitation. 

“Hi, baby girl.” He keeps his voice quiet, unsure how she’s doing and not wanting to unintentionally trigger anything. “How are you feeling, honey?” He doesn’t touch her, not yet, but Harry curls her hand into the front of his shirt weakly. 

“Better,” she says after a moment, voice heavy with sleep. “Don’t wanna move yet, just in case.” 

Louis nods understandably and runs a hand through her thick curls. Harry leans into the touch slightly, so he keeps it up while he talks. “You need anything? Want anything?” He has to specify both because God forbid Harry asks for a glass of water if she’s not dying of thirst. 

Harry doesn’t answer right away, just sighs with content as Louis massages at her scalp. 

“Want me to rub your back?” he prompts. 

“Always,” she replies immediately. “But I don’t want to move.” 

Louis starts to sit up, but she clutches at his shirt tighter. 

“I can move,” he offers. 

“No, want you here.” 

He settles back down. Slowly, so slowly it feels like full minutes pass, Harry shuffles forward till their chests are pressed together and she can nose her way under Louis’ chin. She settles, her whole body going boneless. Louis rubs a hand down her back as best he can from this position, tries to massage into her tight shoulders gently. 

“Think you could try eating something?” he murmurs. 

“In a minute. Just want you right now. Missed you.” 

Louis kisses the top of her head. How her hair still manages to smell like her coconut shampoo even after classes all day, he’ll never understand. “I missed you, too, darling.” 

They stay like that for longer than a few minutes. In all actuality, it’s probably 15 minutes later that Louis feels Harry start to stir again. He thinks they’ve both started to drift off. His limbs feel heavy with sleep, but when Harry mumbles about food, he kisses the top of her head again and slides out of bed. 

He digs through the kitchen for something light on the stomach; something bland without much scent is always a safe bet when Harry’s recovering from a migraine. When he makes it back upstairs, Harry is sitting up in bed, long legs crossed, eyes closed. He pauses at the end of the bed, and Harry opens her eyes. 

“I have to pee,” she explains. 

“Do you need help?” 

She moves to the edge of the bed with glacier slowness. “I don’t think so.” 

Louis watches her closely, ready to catch her if she shows signs of feeling weak or dizzy. When Harry finally makes it to her feet, she pauses for a few long moments and then straightens to her full height. 

“I’m okay,” she says. 

One she makes it to the bathroom, she pauses again. Louis watches her hesitate momentarily before she flicks the light on. He holds his breath, waiting, and then she moves again to stand in front of the toilet. He looks away just as she goes to tug down her pants. She comes back into the room a minute later, smelling like their lemon hand soap, the rings missing from her fingers, with damp palms. She curls into the bed and nibbles on the toast he’s brought her. 

“Rubs now?” She looks up at him, a hint of a smile on her lips. 

“Of course.” He slides in behind her, his hands automatically going for her hair which falls in a mix of ringlets and waves down past her shoulders. He runs his fingers through it a few times, massaging at her scalp gently to help her relax. He knows it works because it almost _always_ works, and her shoulders droop almost instantaneously. Her chin drops to her chest, baring the back of her neck for him. 

Louis smiles and tucks her hair out of the way so he can press a kiss to her exposed skin. “Finish your toast, baby,” he teases. 

His fingers move to her neck when she complies, and he starts massaging there, moving up into her hairline a little before moving on to her shoulders. 

By the time Louis makes it to her lower back, Harry has been reduced to the human equivalent of a puddle. 

Louis eases her onto her side and spoons up behind her. “How do you feel?” 

Harry’s response is a quiet, unintelligible noise. 

“Sleep, baby girl.” 

♡

Louis stays home with Harry the next day. Her migraine is gone, but she’s still recovering. Nobody ever really talks about _after_ a migraine is gone. The nausea lingers, as does the dizziness and general weakness. Like getting over the flu, Harry had once explained. 

They cuddle on the couch, Harry swaddled in blankets with her head in Louis’ lap. Louis plays with her curls and rubs at her shoulders. 

In the middle of watching Tangled, Harry rolls over onto her back and smiles up at him. Louis pokes at her dimple, and her smile deepens. 

“I love you,” she says. “I’m so lucky to have you.” 

Louis presses a kiss to her lips, the barest of touches. “I love you more.” 

Harry shakes her head ever so slightly, hair falling over Louis’ knee. “Nope,” she argues, popping the P. 

He pokes her in the side, and she squirms. “Yes.” 

She leans up on her elbows and presses another kiss to his lips. “I love you most.” He doesn’t respond, too caught up in the lingering kisses. 

“You’re trying to distract me,” he says. 

She sits up, crawling into his lap. “Maybe I just like kissing you.” 

“Don’t see why it can’t be both.” 

They kiss for long minutes. Harry bites at his bottom lip before licking inside. Louis runs his hands up her sides to cup her face. 

“How are you feeling?” he asks when they separate to catch their breath. 

“Perfect,” she says, leaning back in to kiss him. 

He pulls away before she can connect their lips, frowning. 

“Okay,” she amends, “not perfect, but better. Let me kiss you.” 

They exchange kisses, soft and slow, for a few minutes before she lies back down. His hand goes to her hair again, playing with the curls more than massaging. 

“I won by the way,” she says. He hums in question. “I love you the most,” she explains. 

Louis rolls his eyes. “You cheated.”

She, predictably, elects to ignore that. They settle in to watch the rest of the movie. 

“You were my new dream,” Harry quotes along with Flynn. 

Louis smiles, overwhelmingly fond. He wants to stay right here, in this moment, forever. He presses a kiss to the side of her head. “And you were mine,” he whispers. 

**Author's Note:**

> i may or may not have a prequel to this planned 
> 
> [tumblr](https://28finelines.tumblr.com/) | [twitter](https://twitter.com/28finelines_)


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